Feed chute-to-gun ammunition belt guide adapter for machine guns

ABSTRACT

Belted ammunition of either the &#34;ball&#34; or the shorter &#34;SLAP&#34; type is supplied through a flexible feed chute to a 7.62 mm mini machine gun using a specially configured feed adapter interconnected between the outlet end of the feed chute and the inlet of the gun feeder mechanism. The feed adapter, through which the ammunition passes into the gun feed mechanism, is provided with at least one internal roller around which the ammunition belt operatively passes. The roller has a side surface contour with a sloped shoulder portion which complementarily engages the sloping shoulders of the individual ammunition rounds passing around the roller. This complementary shoulder engagement longitudinally indexes the rounds within the adapter and limits undesirable longitudinal shifting of the rounds therein. In one embodiment thereof the adapter is connected to an aircraft plank-mounted mini gun and permits the ammunition belt to be routed over the gun, turned downwardly, and then bent sharply back into the gun&#39;s feeder mechanism without tending to cause ammunition jamming at the feed mechanism due to the sharp belt bend. In a second embodiment thereof the feed adapter is connected to a pintle-mounted mini gun and serves to provide improved vertical pivoting clearance between the gun and an aircraft door or window sill structure upon which the gun-supporting pintle apparatus is mounted. In a third embodiment thereof the feed adapter is connected to a pintle-mounted gun slidably mounted on a pivotable support arm member extending outwardly through an aircraft side door opening.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to armament apparatus and, in apreferred embodiment thereof, more particularly relates to the feedingof belted ammunition to 7.62 mm "mini" machine guns.

The 7.62 mm mini machine gun has been used in a variety of armamentapplications over the years and has proven to be a useful adjunct tolarger rapid fire weaponry such as the .50 caliber machine gun. Thistype of machine gun may be operatively supported in a variety of mannersfor both crew served and remotely controlled firing in both ground andaircraft applications.

For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,187,318 to Sanderson et al a 7.62 mmmini gun is illustrated as being supported, in a fixed mount orientationfor remote firing of the gun, on an outer end portion of an elongatedsupport plank structure that transversely extends through the cabin areaof a helicopter and longitudinally projects outwardly beyond theopposite sides of the helicopter body. A slot is formed through theoutwardly projecting plank end portion that supports the mini gun, andbelted ammunition is fed downwardly through the slot, to a feederportion of the gun, from an ammunition magazine box supported within theaircraft cabin area.

As conventionally manufactured, a 7.62 mm mini machine gun has itsammunition feed structure (which receives the belted ammunition andfeeds the individual rounds into the firing chamber of the gun) mountedon the right side of the gun (as viewed looking down the barrel of thegun from the rear end of the gun). This uniform placement of the gunfeed structure causes an ammunition feeding problem in the support plankmini gun mounting method discussed above.

Specifically, when the gun is mounted on the outwardly projecting leftend portion of the plank, the ammunition belt (and the feed chutethrough which it is routed) may be passed downwardly through theadjacent plank slot and then turned outwardly into the gun's ammunitionfeeder which, in this left plank end mounting of the gun, faces in aninboard direction. This routing of the ammunition belt permits it bebent through relatively smooth transition curves on its way to the gunfeeder mechanism to thereby essentially avoid ammunition jammingproblems at the gun feeder mechanism which could potentially caused byrouting the ammunition belt through one or more sharp turns.

In this plank mounting application of the mini gun, however, these sharpammunition belt turns, and the corresponding increased potential forammunition jamming at the gun feeder, cannot presently be avoided whenthe gun is mounted on the right end portion of the support plank. Thisis due to the fact that in this gun placement on the plank the feedchute, and the ammunition belt therein, must be sequentially routeddownwardly through the plank slot, over the top side of the gun,downwardly, and then in an inboard direction into the gun feeder mountedon the right side of the plank-mounted gun. This necessary succession ofrelatively sharp feed chute/ammunition belt bends undesirably tends tocause ammunition jamming at the gun feeder.

Such jamming tendency is particularly prevalent during either a gunstart-up or an ammunition belt "drag" occurring at the ammunitionmagazine box. The jamming problem is created by an ammunition belt linkbreakage caused by either of these situations arising due to the sharpbelt routing bends. As a result of this ammunition routing problem theplank mounting of 7.62 mm mini machine guns has, as a practical matter,been limited to the outwardly projecting left plank end (as viewed fromthe rear of the helicopter or other aircraft upon which the supportplank is mounted).

In another aircraft mounting application thereof the mini gun ispintie-mounted on an elevated sill portion of an aircraft door or windowstructure and projects outwardly therethrough to be manually fired by acrew member standing within the aircraft cabin area behind the gun. Thepintle structure upon which the gun is mounted is designed to permit thegun to be pivoted upwardly and downwardly, and from side to side, by theoperator of the gun. The mini gun is supplied with belted ammunitionfrom an ammunition magazine box disposed on the cabin area floor beneathand to one side of the gun. To facilitate belted ammunition feed to thepintie-mounted machine gun the gun is oriented on the pintle structurein a manner such that the side-mounted ammunition feeder on the gunfaces downwardly.

When the ammunition magazine box is positioned leftwardly of the gun onthe cabin floor the feed chute portion adjacent the gun may be benthorizontally away from the gun to a degree sufficient to permit the gunto be pivoted upwardly to its full upper limit position, if desired,without causing the feed chute to strike the sill structure and limitthe upward pivotal movement of the gun and without causing ammunitionjamming in the gun due to an overly sharp bend angle in the feed chute.

However, when the ammunition magazine box is disposed to the right ofthe gun the feed chute cannot be bent away from an interferingrelationship with the pintle structure without sharply bending the feedchute portion adjacent the gun and thereby tending to create theaforementioned ammunition jamming. Accordingly, it is common practice tosimply permit the feed chute to hang down inwardly over the sillstructure on its way to the ammunition magazine box. This heretoforenecessary practice in turn causes the feed chute to strike the pintlestructure as the gun is pivoted upwardly toward its designed for upperlimit position, thereby undesirably limiting the available upwardpivotal movement of the gun.

It can be readily seen from the foregoing that it would be desirable toprovide improved belted ammunition feed apparatus for 7.62 mm minimachine guns that eliminates or at least substantially reduces theabove-mentioned machine gun ammunition feeding problems, limitations anddisadvantages in the described gun mounting applications. It isaccordingly an object of the present invention to provide such improvedammunition feed apparatus.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In carrying out principles of the present invention, in accordance witha first embodiment thereof, a specially designed feed adapter isprovided for use in facilitating the longitudinal supply of anammunition belt through a flexible feed chute to the feeder mechanisminlet on a 7.62 mm mini machine gun along a path having a relativelysharply curved portion adjacent the feeder inlet, the feed chute havingan outlet end, and each round on the ammunition belt having a taperedannular shoulder portion.

The feed adapter includes a housing through which the ammunition beltmay longitudinally pass. In one embodiment of the feed adapter,representatively used in conjunction with an aircraft supportplank-mounted mini machine gun, the housing has a generally V-shapedconfiguration with an open inlet end connectable to the outlet end ofthe feed chute, an open outlet end connectable to the inlet of the gunfeeder, and a first curved portion disposed between the inlet and outletends of the housing.

A roller member, around which the ammunition belt may operatively passon its way to the feeder inlet through the housing, is supported withinthe curved housing portion for rotation relative thereto. The rollermember has a tapered annular shoulder configured to complementarilyengage the ammunition rounds in a manner inhibiting a lengthwisemovement of the engaged rounds relative to the housing. The rollermember thus serves to longitudinally index the rounds within the feedadapter housing, and facilitates the sharp bending of the ammunitionbelt adjacent the gun feeder, to thereby substantially diminish thepotential for causing rounds to jam in the feeder due to the curvedammunition supply path.

The individual rounds in the ammunition belt are secured to one anotherby interlinked clip members having outwardly projecting portionslongitudinally spaced apart from the tapered annular casing shoulders.According to another feature of the invention, the roller member hasformed in its outer side surface an annular groove positioned andconfigured to receive and provide clearance for the outwardly projectingclip portions as the rounds pass around the roller member on their wayto the gun feeder inlet through the feed adapter housing.

The feed adapter, via its specially contoured interior housing rollermember, provides longitudinal indexing within the housing for both balland "SLAP" type ammunition and permits the ammunition belt to be fedinto the machine gun around a relatively sharply curved supply pathadjacent the feeder portion of the gun.

In a second embodiment of the feed adapter of the present invention,representatively connected to a pintle-mounted mini machine gunsupported on an elevated aircraft cabin window or door sill structure,the feed adapter housing has a generally S-shaped configuration with anoutlet connected to the gun feeder, an inlet connectable to the outletend of the feed chute, and a pair of oppositely curved portions spacedapart between the inlet and outlet ends of the housing. A speciallycontoured roller of the type described above is rotationally mounted ineach of these two curved portions of the housing. This second embodimentof the feed adapter positions an outlet end of the feed chute relativeto the gun in a manner such that the gun may be vertically pivoted toits full upper limit position without causing the feed chute to strikeand be bent in a side edge-to-side edge fashion by the pintle structure,thereby potentially causing an ammunition jam in the gun feeder.

In a third embodiment of the feed adapter of the present invention,representatively connected to a pintle-mounted mini machine gunadjustably disposed on a pivoted support arm member extending outwardlythrough an aircraft window opening, the feed adapter housing has agenerally L-shaped configuration with an outlet connected to the gunfeeder, an inlet connectable to the outlet end of the feed chute, and acurved portion positioned between the feed adapter inlet and outlet andhaving a specially contoured roller of the type described aboverotationally mounted therein. This embodiment of the feed adapter helpsto prevent undesirable interference between the feed chute and thesupport arm member, and also facilitates the routing of the ammunitionbelt past a link ejector chute attached to the gun feeder.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a partially phantomed perspective view of a 7.62 mm minimachine gun mounted on the underside of a right end portion of a supportplank projecting outwardly beyond a cabin side of an aircraft (notillustrated) and being supplied with belted ammunition using a speciallydesigned feed adapter embodying principles of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged scale simplified partial rear end elevational viewof the gun taken along line 2--2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged scale perspective view of the feed adapter removedfrom the gun;

FIG. 4 is a partially exploded perspective view of a uniquely configuredinterior roller portion of the feed adapter and a portion of anammunition belt operatively routed around the roller;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view through the roller taken along line5--5 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a pintle-mounted 7.62 mm machine gunbeing supplied with belted ammunition using a second embodiment of thefeed adapter;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged scale exploded perspective view of an outlet endportion of the FIG. 6 feed adapter removed from the feeder portion ofits associated gun;

FIG. 8 is a simplified rear end elevational view of the FIG. 6 gun andthe second feed adapter embodiment connected thereto;

FIG. 9 is an enlarged scale perspective view of the second feed adapterembodiment removed from its associated gun; and

FIG. 10 is somewhat simplified rear end view of a pintle-mounted 7.62 mmmachine gun being supplied with belted ammunition using a thirdembodiment of the feed adapter.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Perspectively illustrated in FIG. 1 is an outer end portion 10a of anelongated armament support plank member 10 similar to that illustratedand described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,187,318 to Sanderson et al, thedisclosure of such patent having been incorporated herein by reference.Plank end portion 10a projects outwardly beyond the right cabin sideportion of an aircraft (not shown), such as a helicopter, as viewed fromthe rear of the aircraft. A conventional 7.62 mm mini machine gun 12 issupported on the underside of the outwardly projecting right plank endportion 10a, in a downwardly spaced relationship therewith, by means ofa mounting structure 14 similar to that illustrated and described inU.S. Pat. No. 5,187,318. The mounted machine gun 12 is positionedoutboard of a rectangular ammunition feed slot 16 formed through theplank portion 10a.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, the machine gun 12 has a body portion 18secured to the mounting structure 14, and a barrel portion 20 extendingforwardly from the body portion 18. Operatively mounted on a rightunderside portion of the gun body 18 is a conventional gun feedermechanism 22 which functions to feed belted ammunition to the gun.Feeder mechanism 22 has a horizontally outwardly facing inlet 24 forreceiving the ammunition as later described herein.

Extending from the cabin area of the aircraft to adjacent the gun feederinlet 24 is a flexible feed chute 26 that passes downwardly through theplank slot 16, extends outwardly across the top side of the gun body 18,and then bends downwardly past the outer side of the gun body 18. As canbe best be seen in FIG. 2, the feed chute 26 has an open outlet endportion 26a. A 7.62 mm ammunition belt 28 longitudinally passes throughthe feed chute 26 and has an outer end operatively received in thefeeder inlet 24 for longitudinal infeed into the gun by the gun feedermechanism 22 during firing of the machine gun 12.

As best illustrated in FIG. 4, the ammunition belt 28 isrepresentatively formed from a side-by-side series of 7.62 mm "SLAP"type ammunition rounds 30 which, in a conventional manner, arereleasably secured to one another by a series of laterally overlappedclip members 32 which are progressively stripped away and ejected by thefeeder mechanism 22 as it feeds the individual rounds 30 into the firingchamber of the machine gun 12. The clip members 32, as depicted, havepartially circular body portions that partly circumscribe the casingportions 34 of the rounds 30, and also have laterally outwardlyprojecting tab portions 36 (see FIG. 5 also).

At their forward ends the round casings 34 have annular tapered shoulderportions 38. As may best be seen in FIG. 1, the flexible feed chute 26has opposite side edge portions 40 and 42, with the rear ends 44 of therounds 30 being closely adjacent the feed chute side edge 40 and thefront end projectile tips 46 of the rounds 30 being inwardly offset fromthe opposite feed chute side edge 42. As previously mentioned, therepresentative 7.62 mm ammunition belt 28 is made up from SLAP rounds 30("sabot light armor penetrating"). However, it could also be made upfrom the somewhat longer "ball" type 7.62 mm rounds, in which case theprojectile tips of the rounds would be closely adjacent the feed chuteside edge 42 so that there would be only minimal side edge-to-side edgeplay of the rounds within the feed chute.

Referring now to FIGS. 1-5, it can be seen that the feed path of theammunition belt 28, of necessity, must be passed through a relativelysharp bend adjacent the feeder inlet 24 (see FIG.2) to enter the gunfeeder 22 when the machine gun 12 is mounted on the outwardly projectingright end portion 10a of the support plank 10 as opposed to beingmounted on the outwardly projecting left end portion of the plank asshown in the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 5,187,318, in which case arelatively smooth ammunition belt transition bend at the gun feeder maybe used. This sharp bend of the ammunition belt when the machine gun 12is mounted on the outwardly projecting right end portion 10a of thesupport plank 10 has heretofore resulted in a tendency of the ammunitionrounds 30 to jam in the gun feeder 22. Accordingly, as a practicalmatter, it has previously not been desirable to mount a 7.62 mm minimachine gun on the right plank end portion.

In the present invention this potential jamming problem has beenessentially eliminated by the use of a specially designed feed adapter50 which is illustrated in FIGS. 1-3 and is operatively and removablyinterposed between the outlet end 26a of the feed chute 26 and the inlet24 of the gun feeder mechanism 22. The feed adapter 50 includes agenerally V-shaped metal housing 52 having an open inlet end 54, acurved portion 58 positioned between the ends 54 and 56, and an outerside wall slot 60 extending from adjacent the inlet end 54 and theoutlet end 56 of the housing 52. Conventional clip and tab structures62,64 are used to removably connect the inlet end 54 of the housing 52to the outlet end of the feed chute 26, and conventional pin and slotstructures 66,68 are used to removably connect the outlet end 56 of thehousing 52 to the gun feeder inlet 24.

As shown in FIGS. 2-5, a specially configured roller member 70 isrotationally mounted in the curved intermediate portion 58 of the feedadapter housing 52, and the ammunition belt 28 longitudinally extendsthrough the housing 52 and is operatively passed around and engages anouter side surface of the roller member 70 on its way to the gun feedermechanism 22.

Roller 70 has formed on its outer side surface a tapered annularshoulder portion 72 and an annular groove 74 spaced longitudinally apartfrom the shoulder 72. As best illustrated in FIG. 5, the roller shoulder72 is configured, and positioned within the feed adapter housing 52 tocomplementarily engage the round casing shoulders 38 as the rounds passaround the outer side of the roller as they are being supplied to thegun feeder mechanism 22. This complementary abutting engagement betweenthe shoulders 38,72 serves to longitudinally index the ammunition rounds30 within the feed adapter housing 52 in a manner inhibiting a leftwardshifting of the rounds 30 (as viewed in FIG. 5) within the feed adapterhousing 52 which might tend to cause ammunition jamming within the gunfeeder 22. As also illustrated in FIG. 5, the annular roller groove 74is positioned to receive and provide clearance space for the clip tabportions 38.

The ammunition round indexing function uniquely provided by the feedadapter roller member 70 is particularly useful when, asrepresentatively illustrated, SLAP rounds 30 are used to form theammunition belt 28 since these rounds are substantially shorter than theside edge-to-side edge widths of the feed chute 26 and the feed adapterhousing 52. However, this same complementary round shoulder-to-rollershoulder abutting engagement is present when the longer "ball" type 7.62mm ammunition rounds are used to form the ammunition belt. Accordingly,the feed adapter 50 may be used in conjunction with either of these twotypes of 7.62 mm machine gun ammunition.

It can readily be seen that the specially configured feed adapter 50 ofthe present invention advantageously permits the illustrated 7.62 mmmini machine gun 12 to be mounted on the outwardly projecting rightplank end portion 10a, with the roller member permitting the necessarysharp belt bend adjacent the gun feeder mechanism 22 and also providingthe longitudinal round indexing that permits the use of either SLAP orball type ammunition in this application of the gun.

Turning now to FIGS. 6-9, the present invention also provides a secondembodiment 50a of the previously described feed adapter 50 which isutilized to uniquely solve an ammunition feeding problem associated witha crew served 7.62 mm mini machine gun 12a mounted on an elevatedsupport structure, representatively an elevated sill structure 76 (seeFIG. 8) in an aircraft cabin area door or window. Machine gun 12a issubstantially identical to the previously described gun 12 with theexception that a handle/trigger structure 78 is operatively secured tothe rear end of the gun body portion 18.

A conventional pintle structure 80 is used to support the machine gun12a on the elevated sill 76 with the barrel portion 20 of the gunextending outwardly through the cabin door or window opening above thesill. Pintle structure 80 has a base portion 82 having a top side 84, avertical portion 86 horizontally offset from and projecting upwardlybeyond the base portion 82, and a support yoke portion 88 projectingtransversely outwardly from the upper end of the vertical pintle portion86, generally above the base portion 82.

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 8, the gun body 18 is supported within thepintle yoke 88. In a conventional manner the yoke 88 is connected to theupper end of the vertical portion 86 for pivotal movement relativethereto about a horizontal axis to permit the gun 12a to be manuallypivoted between predetermined upper and lower elevational limitpositions. In a similar conventional manner the pintle base portion issecured to the sill 76 for pivotal motion relative thereto about avertical axis to permit the gun 12a to be selectively swung from side toside by the operator of the gun using the handle/trigger structure 78.Also in a conventional manner the gun body 18 is oriented in the pintleyoke portion 88 in a manner such that, as viewed from the rear of thegun the feeder 22 is on a lower left side portion of the gun 12a withthe feeder inlet 24 facing downwardly.

The conventional method of supplying 7.62 mm belted ammunition to thepintle-mounted machine gun 12a, as depicted in phantom in FIG. 6, is toposition an ammunition magazine box (not shown) on the cabin floor toone side of the gun, extend the flexible feed chute 26 from the magazinebox to the gun, and connect the outlet end 26a of the feed chute(through which the ammunition belt 28 longitudinally extends) directlyto the gun feeder inlet 24. When the ammunition box is positioned to theleft of the gun 12a (as viewed from the rear of the gun), the feed chute26 clears the pintle base 82 when the gun is vertically pivoted to itsdesigned for upper limit position.

However, when the magazine box is positioned rightwardly of the gun anoutlet end portion of the feed chute 26 is positioned directly behindthe pintle base portion as indicated in phantom in FIG. 6. Accordingly,as the gun 12a pivotally approaches its upper limit position, the feedchute strikes the pintle base portion 82 and prevents the gun from beingpivoted to its full upper limit position. As will now be described, thefeed adapter 50a of the present invention uniquely eliminates this wellknown feed chute interference problem.

Feed adapter 50a includes a generally S-shaped housing 90, through whichthe ammunition belt 28 is longitudinally extendable, which isoperatively interconnectable between the outlet end 26a of the feedchute 26 and the inlet 24 of the gun feeder 22. Housing 90 has an openoutlet end 92; an open inlet end 94; an upwardly curved portion 96adjacent outlet end 92; a central body portion 98 extending upwardly andrightwardly from the curved portion 96; a downwardly curved portion 100positioned between the upper end of the central body portion 98 and theinlet end 94; and an outer side slot 102. A pair of the previouslydescribed indexing roller members 70 are rotationally mounted within thecurved housing portions 96 and 100, each of the roller members havingthe sloped annular shoulder 72 and the annular groove 74 as describedabove in conjunction with the feed adapter 50.

Using the illustrated conventional clip and tab structures 62 and 64 theinlet end 94 of the housing 90 is removably connected to the outlet end26a of the feed chute 26 as shown in solid line form in FIG. 6, andusing the illustrated conventional pin and shoulder structures 66,68shown in FIG. 7 the outlet end 92 of the housing 90 is removablyconnected to the gun feeder inlet 24. To provide additional support forthe housing 90, a suitable support member 104 is interconnected betweenthe curved housing portion 96 and the gun feeder mechanism 22, and asuitable support member 106 is interconnected between the curved housingportion 100 and the pintle yoke 88.

As may be seen by comparing the solid line and phantomed positions ofthe feed chute 26 in FIG. 6, the use of the feed adapter 50a positionsan outlet end portion of the feed chute 26 rightwardly of the pintlestructure. Additionally, as best illustrated in FIG. 8, the lower curvedportion 96 of the feed adapter housing 90 (and thus the portion of theammunition belt 28 within the curved housing portion 96) is positionedslightly upwardly of the top side 84 of the pintle base portion 82.

This repositioning of the feed chute 26, and the ammunition belt 28longitudinally extending therethrough, when the magazine box is disposedto the right of the machine gun 12a eliminates the previous interferencebetween the feed chute 26 and the pintle base 82 as the gun 12apivotally approaches its upper limit position. Accordingly, the gun maynow be upwardly pivoted clear to its intended upper limit positionwithout potentially creating ammunition jamming within the gun.

The two contoured roller members 70 incorporated in the feed adapter 50afunction in exactly the same manner as the single roller member 70incorporated in the previously described feed adapter 50 tolongitudinally index the SLAP rounds 30 in the feed adapter 50a, and tofacilitate the two relatively sharp ammunition belt bends adjacent thefeeder mechanism 22 of the gun 12a. Specifically, the shoulders 72 ofthese two rollers form complementary indexing abutments for the casingshoulders 38 of the rounds 30 passing around the rollers, and the rollergrooves 72 receive and provide clearance space for the clip tabs 36.

Illustrated in FIG. 10 is a third embodiment 50b of the previouslydescribed feed adapter 50 which is representatively utilized inconjunction with a mini machine gun 12b having a body portion 18 and agun feeder portion 22. Machine gun 12b is operatively supported on apintle structure 80 having a base portion 82, a vertical portion 86, anda yoke portion 88 positioned at the upper end of portion 86 andoperatively receiving the body 18 of the mini machine gun 12b. Asillustrated in phantom, the gun feeder 22 has a link ejector chute 108operatively connected to a lower side thereof.

The pintle base 82 is pivotally secured to a hollow rectangular slidermember 110 slidably carried on an elongated, rectangularlycross-sectioned support arm member 112 for movement along its length.The support arm member 112 has a longitudinally spaced series ofcircular openings 114 formed in a side thereof. To releasably lock theslider member 110 at a selectively variable one of these openings 114the member 110 is simply moved along the support arm member 112 until acircular opening 116 in the slider member 110 is aligned with one of thesupport arm openings 114. A locking pin 118 is then inserted into thealigned openings 114,116 to releasably lock the slider member 110, andthus the gun 50b, on the support arm member 112 at a selectedlongitudinal position thereon.

An inner end portion of the support arm member 112 extends inwardlythrough a door opening 120 on one side of an aircraft 122 and ispivotally secured, as at 124, to a suitable support structure 126 withinthe aircraft. The support arm 112 may thus be pivoted in forward and aftdirections (i.e., into and out of the sheet) relative to the aircraft. Afeed chute 26 is extended from an ammunition box (not shown) within theaircraft 122 outwardly through the door opening 120 to adjacent the minimachine gun 12b, with the ammunition belt 28 being operatively extendedthrough the feed chute 26.

Feed adapter 50b includes a generally L-shaped metal housing 128,through which the ammunition belt 28 is longitudinally extendable, whichis operatively interconnectable between the outlet end 26a of the feedchute 26 and the inlet 24 of the gun feeder 22. Housing 128 has an openoutlet end 130; an open inlet end 132; and a curved portion 134positioned between the ends 130 and 132 and having a roller member 70rotationally mounted therein. The angle between the inlet and outlet legportions of the housing 128 is representatively about 100°. In a mannerpreviously described in conjunction with the feed adapter 50, the inletand outlet ends 132,134 of the housing 128 are respectively andreleasably secured to the outlet end of the feed chute 26 and the inlet24 of the gun feeder 22, and the ammunition belt 28 is longitudinallyfed through the feed chute 26 and the housing 128 and into the gunfeeder 22.

As viewed in FIG. 10, the feed adapter 50b is located behind the linkejector chute 108. Feed adapter 50b, in the mini machine gun applicationshown in FIG. 10, advantageously serves to position an outlet end of thefeed chute 26 in a manner essentially preventing interference betweenthe feed chute as the support arm member 112 is pivoted in forward andaft directions relative to the aircraft 122. Additionally, the feedadapter 50b properly routes the ammunition belt between the pintle base82 and the link ejector chute 108 in order to essentially preventinterference between the belt and either of these two armamentcomponents.

The foregoing detailed description is to be clearly understood as beinggiven by way of illustration and example only, the spirit and scope ofthe present invention being limited solely by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A feed adapter for use in facilitating thelongitudinal supply of an ammunition belt through a flexible feed chuteto an inlet of a gun feeder mechanism on a machine gun along a pathhaving a relatively sharply curved portion adjacent the gun feederinlet, the feed chute having an outlet end and each round on theammunition belt having a tapered annular shoulder portion, said feedadapter comprising:a housing having an open inlet end, an open outletend, and a first curved portion disposed between said inlet and outletends of said housing; and a first roller member, supported within saidfirst curved portion of said housing for rotation relative thereto, saidfirst roller member having a tapered annular shoulder complementarilyconfigured relative to the tapered annular shoulder portions of theammunition rounds, the ammunition rounds in the ammunition belt beingreleasably intersecured to one another by a series of interconnectedclip members having laterally outwardly projecting portionslongitudinally spaced apart from the tapered shoulder portions of therounds, and said first roller member further having an annular exteriorgroove formed therein, said annular exterior groove beingcomplementarily configured relative to the laterally outwardlyprotecting portions of the series of interconnected clip members.
 2. Thefeed adapter of claim 1 wherein: the machine gun is a 7.62 mm minimachine gun, and said housing has a generally V-shaped configuration. 3.The feed adapter of claim 1 wherein: the machine gun is a 7.62 mm minimachine gun, said housing has a generally S-shaped configuration and asecond curved portion spaced apart from said first curved portion,andsaid feed adapter further comprises a second roller memberrotationally mounted in said second curved portion and having aconfiguration substantially identical to that of said first rollermember.
 4. The feed adapter of claim 1 wherein: the machine gun is a7.62 mm mini machine gun, and said housing has a generally L-shapedconfiguration.